A 1984 Star Trek: The Original Series novel by Jean Lorrah that has Kirk and McCoy accompany Spock to Vulcan to get experimental treatment for a seriously injured crew member at the Vulcan Academy Hospital where Spock's mother is also hospitalized.
During the visit, patients suddenly start to die and Kirk suspects murder, something considered unthinkable on Vulcan and proceeds to investigate.
It was published on November 1984 by Pocket Books.
Tropes for the novel:
- Bathe Her and Bring Her to Me: Indicated to have been attempted by a warlord during a diplomatic mission gone wrong. Sarek was...not inclined to cooperate.Spock: What happened on that mission, father? You never would tell me, but I remember you returned home with the vestiges of… a black eye.
Sarek: True, but I also returned home with your mother.
Kirk: Oh no, I think I'm beginning to see what happened here. The warlord thought you had brought Amanda...as a gift for him?
Sarek: You should consider a career in the diplomatic service, Jim. - Call-Back:
- Kirk remembers first meeting Sarek and Amanda back in the episode "Journey to Babel" when they head to Vulcan to help a crew member get treatment.
- McCoy suggests to Spock using the same method with the Vulcan academy computer as he did with the Enterprise computer back in the episode "Court Martial". This also leads to a brief call back to "Journey to Babel", when McCoy says to himself, "Looks like I'm going to have the last word again."
- Spock's now-dissolved marriage to T'Pring from "Amok Time" is brought up. Sarek, after learning how T'Pring manipulated events in that episode, admitted that he was wrong to bond Spock to her when they were young.
- It is mentioned that Dr. Miranda Jones from "Is There In Truth No Beauty" met with Dr. Corrigan while she was on Vulcan.
- Humanity Is Infectious: Downplayed but present; Kirk makes the observation that on any planet in the Federation where humans may spend any amount of time, sooner or later someone will set up an Italian restaurant.
- Love Makes You Evil: Sarek’s assistant, Eleyna Miller, was secretly in love with Sarek but because he was in love with his wife, he was naturally oblivious. When Amanda came down with a degenerative neurological condition, Eleyna was prepared to wait until Amanda died, but when the experimental procedure that could repair neurological damage came along, she decided to murder Amanda. Fortunately for Sarek, she failed and was arrested.
- May–December Romance: Played with in the case of Dr. Daniel Corrigan and T'Mir. He's noticeably older than she is, but T'Mir argues that, since he's taken an experimental treatment to save his life, he can expect a much longer than average lifespan.
- Meaningful Name: "Amanda" means "lovable", which Sarek uses in an attempt to explain away his calling his calling her "beloved" when she awakened, claiming he was being literal.
- Murder by Mistake: Why T’Zan died. Eleyna Miller was planning to murder Amanda so that Eleyna could have Sarek for herself. When Sarek told her that Spock was returning to Vulcan she programmed the Science Academy computer to cut power to the stasis chamber, thinking that Amanda would be the only one in stasis. However, Sarek never told Eleyna that Spock was returning to put a Red Shirt in stasis, and he never got to tell her about T’Zan also being in stasis, as he only learned about it the morning that the Enterprise arrived and by the time he returned to his office, Eleyna had left. As a result, the computer cut power to the first chamber in the power sequence — and unfortunately for Sorel, it happened to be T’Zan’s chamber, which nearly led to Sorel dying because his daughter had just come home from being off-planet, was being picked up by her brother, and they were too far away to mind-meld with Sorel. Dr. Corrigan had to mind-meld with Sorel until his children arrived. Oops.
- One-Shot Character:
- Soton, son of Sorel.
- Eleyna Miller, Sarek's assistant at the Vulcan academy. Justified in her case because she’s the murderer.
- Serial Killer: Kirk suspects that someone is killing patients at the hospital.
- Take the Third Option: At one point, Dr. Daniel Corrigan is worried that Soril will start playing matchmaker for him and any human female that arrives on Vulcan. T'Mir provides a solution: Daniel should marry her instead.
- When She Smiles: When T'Mir and Dr. Corrigan enter into a matrimonial mind bond, T'Mir's expression cannot be mistaken for anything but a joyful smile.
